Rotary steam-engine



A. C. JOHNSON. ROTARY STEAM ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED AUG.20, 1920.

Patented Sept. 6, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l- F 7 .42 5 45 L m Wm 40 W 44 7 45 J4 J0 IE L W i 1'' -4I R *1. ski Q HHUI] (7 2 I MIME flab/27245022 INVENTOR AITORNEY 5 A. c.JOHNSON. ROTARY STEAM ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-20, 1920. 1 89,874. PatentedSept. 6, 1921.

J4 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2- o O r I. I O O Mach/away,

INVENTOR ATTORNEY A. C. JOHNSON.

ROTARY .STEAM ENGINE.

APPLICATION man AUG-20, 1920.

ATTORNEY A. C. JOHNSON.

ROTARY STEAM ENGINE.

APPLICATlON FILED AUG. 20. 192o.

PatentedSept. 6,1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

ATTORNEY 1 which UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

noTAitY STEAM-ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 6, 1921.

Application filed August 20, 1920. Serial No. 404,749.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT C. JoHNsoN, acitizen of the United States, residing at Stillwater, in the county ofWashington and State of Minnesota, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Rotary Steam- Engines, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to rotary engines, particularly to that typeemploying the eX- pansible action of fluids as driving means, and hasfor its object the provisionof a rotary steam engine in which the rotoris evenly balanced as the steamis admitted simultaneously at oppositesides and this balancing will result in elimination of the greater partof the vibration present in most engines.

Another object is the provision of an engine of this character in whichthe steam inlet and exhaust ports are widely separated and do notoverlap, the advantage being that the different parts of the cylinderwill be maintained at substantially an even temperature, therebyreducing condensation and obtaining the maximum effect of the"expansible power of the steam. V

An important object is the provision of an engine of this characterprovided withanautomatic centrifugal governorwhereby to automaticallycontrol the-inlet of steam to admit a greater or less amount thereof asrequired by different loads so that the action and speed of theenginewill be uniform.

An additional object is the provision of an engine of this characterwhich will be comparatively simple in construction, highly efficient inuse, positive in action, durable in service, and a general improvementin the art.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the inventionconsists in thedetails of construction to be hereinafter more fullydescribed and claimed, and illustrated. in the accompanying drawings inFigure 1 is a. plan View of the complete engine,

2 is an elevationof one side thereof, Fig. 3, is an elevation of theopposite side with the fly-wheel removed,

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section,

Fig. 5 is a central cross sectional view, taken'on the line 5-5 of Fig.4:,

Fig. '6 is a cross sectional view on the line 6-6 of Fig. '1,

ings, the numeral 15 designates the base ofthe engine upon which ismounted a cylinder 16 which has formed upon its opposite sidesextensions 17 constituting valve cages. The cylinder 16 is formedsubstantially ringlike and has journaled centrally therethrough a shaft18 upon which is keyed a rotor 19 provided at diametrically oppositepoints with pistons 20 having the usual packing rings 21. The centralportion 22 of the rotor is provided with concentric grooves 23 oppositesimilar grooves 24 in the opposite walls of the cylinder and thesegrooves cooperate to form traps for water of condensation and oil whichwill fill the grooves and serve as a seal for preventing leakage ofcompression from the interior of the cylinder to the slight space aroundthe shaft.

Formed in one wall of the cylinder 16 adjacent the cages 17 are exhaustports 25 which lead to any suitable pipes or to an exhaust manifold.Also formed in the wall of the cylinder 16 at each cage 17 is an arcuateinlet port 26 which is concentric with the center of the cage.

Located within each cage 17 is a rotary rotor when in a certainposition. This valve 27 is provided at its other end with a flange30,adapted to cover the adjacent inlet port 26 and this flange is formedwith a cut-out portion 31 of less length than the port 26 but adapted toregister therewith. The valve 27 is formed with shallow pockets 31 whichcommunicate with the cylinder ports to exert a balancing action and toreduce friction during rotation of the valve under pressure. Carried bythe stem 28 of each valve 27 is .a disk 32 having projecting therefrom aseries of pins 33 arranged in a circular series eccentrio with respectto the stem 28.

Carried by one end of the shaft 18 is an elliptical gear 3 1 having aseries of teeth 35, there being twice as many of these teeth 35 as pins33 and the gear 34is of course so disposed with respect to the disks 32carrying the pins that the pins will be successively engaged by theteeth. As the rotor 19 is rotated the gear 34 will also be roitated andwill operate to rotate the valves out a portion of a revolution and willhave their movement retarded during the remainder of the revolution,this retardation being necessary to permit the passage of the pistons 20through the cut-out portions ,29 of the valves. 7 As the rotor carriestwo pistons itis obvious that theremust be twice as i many teeth 35 aspins 33 so that each valve 27 will make two revolutions to onerevolution of the rotor.

Disposed within each cage17 and engaging the flange 30 of the valve 27,is a control disk 36 between which and the adjacent end of the cage isprovided a chamber 37 into which extends the inlet pipe 38. This disk 36is formed at its periphery'with a cut-out portion 39 adapted to registerwith the cut-out portion 31 of the flange 30 during rotation of thevalve so as to control the admission of steam to the cylinder throughthe port 26. Each disk 36 carries a stem 40 upon which is secured acrank arm 41 and-these crank arms 41 are connected by links 42 with pins43 extending from a dlsk 44 journaled upon a shaft 45. Connected withthis disk 44, as shown at 46, is a link 47 which is connected with afork 48 engaged by a sliding collar 49 on a vertical governor shaft 50and this collar 49 has connected therewith links 51 which are in turnconnected with arms 52 carrying .Weights 53 and pivoted upona ring 54carried bythe governor shaft. This type of governor is well known and itwill be seen that the outward or inward movement .of the weighted arms52 will control the passage of the fork 48so as to move the disk 44 andThe face of the disk 36 engaging the flange 30 is depressed, asindicated, so as to reduce the bearing area and consequently reducefriction. The end of the cage toward the valve 27 at the end thereofprovided with u the stem 28, is formed with an annular channel 56 withwhich communicates a passage 57 leading into the cut-out portion 29 ofthe valve and the purpose of this channel is that steam at boilerpressure may enter thereln and serve'as an end thrust to hold the valveagainst the disk 36.

In-the operation of the device it will be seen that steam entering thechambers 37 as abutments and radial movement willthus v be imparted tothe rotor 19. Spent steam in advance of the pistons20 will of course beforced out through the exhaust ports 25. As therotor 19 is keyed uponthe shaft 18 and as the gear 34 is also keyedupon the shaftlS the gear34 meshing with the eccen-V tric series of pins 33 will cause the properrotation of the valves 27 to control the inlet of steam. When theengineis operating under different load conditions it will be seen thatthe governor mechanism will operate to shift the disk 44 andconsequently the disks 36 so as to control the quantity of, steam en,-tering the cylinder. V i

From the foregoing description and a study of the drawingsv it willbeapparent that I have thus provided a simply constructed rotary enginein which the action will be smooth and practically free from vibrationas the inlet and exhaust occur simultaneously at both sides of-theengineat' diametrically opposite points so that a per;

fectly balanced action is obtained. It, will also be observed that theinlet and exhaust ports are comparatively widely separated so that the.heat throughout all parts of 'the engine will be substantiallyuniform-which will result in' minimizing the amount of condensation andin insuring more eflicient action.

While I have shown and describedthe preferred embodiment of myinvention, it is of course to be understood that I reserve the right tomake such changes intheform,

construction, and arrangement of parts as will not depart from thespirit of the inivention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my inventionr I claim:

1. A rotary engine comprising a cylinder formed at diametricallyopposite sides with extensions constituting valve cages and formed atdiametrically opposite points with intake ports leading-into theendportions of said extensions, inlet pipes leading into said extensions,said cylinder also being provided with outlet portsyashaft journaledthrough the cylinder, a rotor onsaid shaft and provided withdiametrically opposite pistons, a rotary valve within each extension andhaving a cut-Way portion for the passage of said pistons at certainpredetermined points in the relative rotation of the rotor and valve,each valve being provided with a port adapted to register with theassociated intake port of the cylinder, a disk within eachextensionhaving a port with which the port in said valve is adapted to register,means for rotating said valves simultaneously, said means comprisingtoothed wheels carried by said valves and mounted eccentrically thereon,and an elliptical toothed wheel carried by the shaft and meshing withsaid toothed wheels.

2. A rotary engine comprising a cylinder formed at diametricallyopposite sides with extensions constituting valve cages and formed atdiametrically opposite points with intake ports leading into the endportions of said extensions, inlet pipes leading into said extensions,said cylinder also being provided with outlet ports, a shaft journaledthrough the cylinder, a rotor on said shaft and provided withdiametrically opposite pistons, a rotary valve within each extension andhaving a cut-away portion for the passage of said pistons at certainpredetermined points in the relative rotation of the rotor and valves,each valve being provided with a port adapted to register with theassociated intake port of the cylinder, a disk within each extensionhaving a port with which the port in said valve is adapted to register,means for rotating said valves simultaneously, said means comprisingtoothed wheels carried by said valves and mounted eccentrically thereon,and an elliptical toothed wheel carried by the shaft and meshing withsaid toothed wheels, the number of teeth in said elliptical toothedwheel being double the number of the teeth in either of the first namedtoothed wheels.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ALBERT C. JOHNSON.

